Tag Archive for: Child Labor Law

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Proposed Changes to Child Labor Law Spark Concern in Maine


[from Lewiston Sun-Journal. 3/10/11] By Steve Mistler, Staff Writer

AUGUSTA — Groups representing restaurants and hotels sparred with worker advocates on Wednesday over a bill that would ease work restrictions within the state’s 20-year-old child labor law.

The legislation is sponsored by Sen. Debra Plowman, R-Hampden, and backed by Gov. Paul LePage. Both believe high school-age students should be allowed to work longer hours and more often during the school year.

Opponents said the proposal would dial back child-labor protections enacted in 1991 to prevent employers from pressuring minors into working longer hours. They also worried the proposal would shift emphasis from education and school-sponsored, extra-curricular activities.

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Despite problems, egg farmer embraced by local governments Central figure in recall has history of run-ins with regulators

By Andrew Zajac, Chicago Tribune Washington Bureau

8:23 PM EDT, August 27, 2010/WASHINGTON

Long before Austin “Jack” DeCoster became a central figure in one of the largest egg recalls in history, he had paid more than $10 million in fines and lawsuit settlements, his eggs were banned in one state and quarantined in another, and he was almost single-handedly responsible for new restrictions on child labor in his native Maine.

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